11:15 A.M. EST
Real Audio of Briefing
MR. MACINNES: First of all, we welcome you, Dr. Farid, to this Foreign Press Center press briefing here in Washington. There is a great deal of interest on the Iraqi elections, as you know. We hope that you can hear us. This is a one-way audio feed for you. We can see you very well and clearly. And if we could start with perhaps you could give a brief on where the electoral process is right now, and then we'll take questions from our journalists.
Thank you.
DR. AYAR: Yes, now we are working in the Commission to finalize everything about the results, and I hope that we can finish within a few coming days and we will announce the final results maybe end of next week or in the middle of next week.
MR. MACINNES: Okay, we'll go to questions now. Can I have the first question from someone?
QUESTION: Jihan Hajibadn I'm from Voice of America Kurdish Service. I have a question regarding the voting process in Sinjar area, area around Mosul.
Thousands of people were not able to vote basically because of shortage in ballots. Why did that happen? Why were they not able to vote? And also, why not to extend the election in those areas?
DR. AYAR: Well, we have -- from our side, we have sent everything to Mosul area and all villages around. We have sent ballot boxes and ballot papers and everything. But there was some -- as you know, Mosul was not quite secure at that time and some of the militia men took the boxes and the ballot papers to their own places and they have made some fraud with it, and we have announced a statement yesterday about all the Kurds in the villages in which they live -- (inaudible), Assyrians and Chaldeans and other minorities in Iraq. It was not problem. The problem was with the militia men, which sometimes they were wearing national guard suits and some of them civilians, but it was a very sad case and we couldn't do anything according to this problem.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) in those areas?
MR. MACINNES: The question was: Why not extend the election process in those areas that were affected?
DR. AYAR: According to the transitional law, we can't extend the election to another day because we should finish everything on the 30th of January. The law is what says that and we couldn't make anything else.
MR. MACINNES: Next question. Samir.
QUESTION: Samir Nader with Radio Sawa. Who is going to certify the final results?
DR. AYAR: Do you mean the time?
QUESTION: No, after you announce the final results next week, who will certify the results?
DR. AYAR: Well, first of all, we will announce the final result, then in few days after that when -- in three days or a little bit more we will certify the final results, and that's it. That's the finish of the whole process.
QUESTION: The Commission will have the responsibility? The Commission will do the certification?
DR. AYAR: Yes, the Commission will make certification, of course.
MR. MACINNES: Next question.
QUESTION: Jiri Raivio, newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Finland.
Do you have any idea on how large a percentage of the voters participated in the election?
DR. AYAR: Well, we don't have now the exact number with the voters which they participate in the election, but I think in the coming days we can announce some numbers about this case.
MR. MACINNES: Next question.
QUESTION: Giampiero Gramaglia, Italian News Agency ANSA.
When do you foresee the first meeting of the new assembly?
DR. AYAR: Well, after the election, the final results we announce it, and then it will come certification, then it will be so there is some process to divide the seats of the new parliament on the winners, and then we will decide, or we will decide with the new general assembly or -- yes, the general assembly, when they will have the first seat.
MR. MACINNES: Next question.
QUESTION: It's Mr. Raivio here again. Is it possible to challenge the results in the courts in Iraq, or is it quite certain that the result that you announce will be the final one?
DR. AYAR: I couldn't understand your questions. Could you repeat it, please?
QUESTION: Can somebody challenge the result in the courts in Iraq, or is the result that you will announce, is it going to be the final result?
DR. AYAR: Well, first we will announce the results, then everybody who has any claim, he can come and he can ask for to re-check all the numbers, and then after that we will certify all the numbers when we finish from all the claims.
MR. MACINNES: Thank you. A question that someone asked me to ask was on the process on the counting the ballots, are you then putting them on computer and will they be broken down and available to reporters on how each province voted?
DR. AYAR: If I understood your questions, all the reporters and media men, they come to the tally center and they look how they are counting all the votes, and the political agents, they are there and observers. They are there. So it is open, open process, and everybody can check what we are doing.
MR. MACINNES: Okay. When the results are announced, will there be a breakdown of the voting by each district?
DR. AYAR: I beg your pardon. I couldn't understand you, please.
MR. MACINNES: Will the voting results, the data that you have, be available for the different districts around the country?
DR. AYAR: Yes, except Mosul, which we are dealing with it, and I think we are going to work with this province tomorrow because there is some -- as I said, some boxes which we have to check it, re-check it again. There was some fraud in it.
MR. MACINNES: Thank you. Next question.
QUESTION: Yes, Samir Nader with Radio Sawa.
Did the committee of observers appointed by the UN present their report about the credibility of the election, and/or will they present it to the UN, not to the Commission?
DR. AYAR: Well, the 200 observers, international observers, they were here in Baghdad and they have observed everything which they want. And we didn't appoint any observer from our side. There is nongovernmental organizations which they have sent observers to us, I think 19,000. They were here in Iraq. They have observed all of the process of the election from the beginning to the end.
MR. MACINNES: Next question.
QUESTION: Can I ask him an Arabic question?
MR. MACINNES: Sure, sure.
QUESTION: (In Arabic.)
DR. AYAR: (In Arabic.)
MR. MACINNES: For those who don't have Arabic, basically Samir asked him to re-talk a bit about what he had already said, but also talk about the observers. He clarified that there are 200 foreign observers and the rest were Iraqi observers scattered through the country, so the 19,000, the majority of those, the vast majority, were Iraqi observers.
Next question.
QUESTION: Giampiero Gramaglia, Italian News Agency ANSA.
In the provisional results you have seen so far, there are any surprise for you?
DR. AYAR: Which provision?
QUESTION: In the provisional results you have seen so far?
DR. AYAR: Well, I can't tell you now that really I can't judge now. But I think the Iraqi people, when they go to the voting stations, it was surprise for me because I didn't expect so many people, they left their homes at that day and went to the polling stations and they were very happy and they were standing against in the face of terrorists. This was something which makes any Iraqi really happy and proud.
MR. MACINNES: Next question.
QUESTION: Jiri Raivio, Helsingin Sanomat, Finland, again.
Can you now quote any lessons learned for the next electoral process later this year, something that should be fixed or changed before the next elections?
DR. AYAR: Could you repeat your questions, please?
QUESTION: I was asking you of the lessons learned from this electoral process. Are there any lessons that you now can say that anything should be changed before the next election?
DR. AYAR: Well, of course, any step we have learned many things from this election and I think if there is anything necessary to change it, we will change it so to make the next election more ideal and more complete. This is something normal and we will study all the things when we finish from the announcing the results, then we can take -- we will have further steps to improve our work for the next election -- and for the next two elections, I mean.
MR. MACINNES: Dr. Farid, when you announce the election results, which will be, I suppose, next week, it sounded like, will you announce the national results and the results of the local elections, such as the elections up in Kurdistan where they're electing local government officials?
DR. AYAR: For the three elections, all of them, we'll announce them in the same day in the same time.
MR. MACINNES: Next question.
QUESTION: I am Palestinian Reti, the Washington correspondent of the Hungarian newsmagazine HVG.
I came a little bit late. I don't know whether you have elaborated about the nature of the fraud in Mosul or maybe in other provinces which occurred and you mentioned. What kind of fraud you would reveal? Thanks.
DR. AYAR: When we sent the boxes and the ballot papers and other stationery and materials to the stations, to the stations in the small villages, some of the -- I don't know if they are national guards or not or militia men, but they were -- they came with their weapons and they took the boxes and everything and they took it to the place which we don't know where, and then they have signed -- they put signs on the papers, on the ballot papers, for the political entity which they supported, then they put it in the box again and they returned the boxes to the places and they asked our people there from the IECI that these boxes should go to Baghdad and should be counted as usual. And they -- some of them, they said if you need money we will give you so to accept this result, but our IECI members there, they refused this act and they took all the boxes to Mosul and they left it there.
So when we sent delegation from IECI here from Baghdad to Mosul, they checked everything and they found such a fraud happened in some places, I think between 50 and 54 boxes should be re-checked again. And I think it is -- we will take some action against this act. I think we will cancel the result of every box which we have doubt about it.
MR. MACINNES: Next question, please.
QUESTION: Jihan from Voice of America Kurdish Service.
As far as we know, those areas, Shahan and areas around Mosul were safe. I mean, security situation was okay. I mean, how such a thing will happen there? Do you think it was organized?
DR. AYAR: Well, what's meant by "safe"? They are those villages and small villages and peaceful villages. They are -- the terrorists or anybody can go and enter this village without any resistance, so nobody from those village can stop the militia men or those which they belong to some people or to some groups of. How people there -- I don't know, but they can't do anything. So when 10 or 20 or 50 militia men, they came and they take the boxes, nobody can stop them there.
MR. MACINNES: Thank you. Any further questions?
QUESTION: Are you personally going to be in charge for the next two elections as well later this year?
DR. AYAR: Could you repeat your questions, please?
QUESTION: Are you personally going to be in charge or working in your present position during the two elections later this year?
DR. AYAR: Well, I don't know, but I have been asked to stay to the next two elections with the IECI.
MR. MACINNES: Just to clarify that, the IECI will be in charge of the next two elections as an institution?
DR. AYAR: Yes, of course, it will be in charge, fully in charge to supervise everything in the next two elections.
MR. MACINNES: Further questions? If there are no further -- well, one, I guess. Go ahead.
QUESTION: One follow-up question to the fraud ballots. For which party were they, I mean, these fraud ballots?
DR. AYAR: I couldn't hear you well. Could you repeat your questions, please?
QUESTION: My question is these fraud ballots, for which party they were?
MR. MACINNES: The question was who would benefit from the fraud that happened?
DR. AYAR: (No response.)
MR. MACINNES: I'll repeat the question again. The question was on what party or what individuals would benefit from such a fraud.
DR. AYAR: Well, I don't know which party it was benefit from this fraud, or party or political entity or anybody. But what we have discovered is some people, they came, militia men or armed people, they took the ballot boxes and they have changed the -- they have written something which they wanted and then they put their ballot papers again in the ballot boxes. And so this is a sorry and I can't accuse any party because we don't know. We have no right to accuse something which we don't know which party was interested to do that.
MR. MACINNES: Okay, thank you. Further questions? In the back.
QUESTION: Deniz Enginsoy with Anatolia News.
Is there any fraud activities other parts of the country? It's just Mosul?
DR. AYAR: Well, what we found, it was in Nenevah, it was this fraud, but in other -- for example, in the south, there was nothing happened such what happened in Nenevah or in the middle or in Baghdad. We are studying now -- we are investigating some claims from people in Kirkuk, but we didn't reach to any result yet now, till now. And I hope we can announce everything in due time.
MR. MACINNES: Thank you. Next question. A follow-up?
QUESTION: A follow-up. What kind of claims from people in Kirkuk? Could you clarify?
DR. AYAR: Well, there was some bags which they are -- which we found that it was not -- they have not -- they didn't put the papers in normal or official bags, which is nylon bag. They put it in a paper bag. So we are now trying to find why they have put the whole reports about the election in this school or that school in the paper bag and not in nylon bag, which is -- which we have advised them to do. So but as happened in Nenevah, it was a big thing, and now we are doing everything to announce the credible result for this historic election.
MR. MACINNES: Thank you. Further questions?
QUESTION: Reha Atasagun with the Turkish Television TRT.
Sir, can you tell us, you know, if you decide that the fraud is very complicated and you can't find out who did it and whatever, is there a possibility of reelection in those areas?
DR. AYAR: Well, ma'am, I don't think we can go to reelection in Mosul or in the villages of Christian villages and some Sabiyah and [inaudible] villages. It is not possible according to the law. There is no any complementary or, what they call it, supplementary election. This is not possible. But we have to find something to let those people participate or share in the committees which will write our new constitution.
MR. MACINNES: Thank you. A follow-up?
QUESTION: Yes, a follow-up. What about in Kirkuk where you said instead of nylon bags they used paper bags?
DR. AYAR: In Kirkuk there is -- I didn't say there is any fraud in Kirkuk or anything now, but we found some of the envelopes, which they are paper envelopes and not nylon. If we prove that those are -- there's something fraud in it, we will cancel it. We will not accept anything against our regulations. Be sure, ma'am, that we are doing our best to ensure that for all people that the result will be for the whole Iraqi people, if they are Turkomen or Kurds or Arab or Christian, Chaldean-Assyrian or others. We are doing our best in that and we shoot for that.
QUESTION: Sir, sorry, but it's very important what you said. You said you would cancel it. And if you cancel, how will you replace those votes? I mean, could you little bit elaborate on it?
DR. AYAR: For example, if you find in Baghdad, for example, that in a school there is something happened for ballot box and something or fraud happened in that ballot box, we will cancel the result of the ballot box, of course, because we will not accept any fraud in any ballot box. And what we found in Kirkuk, it is not fraud but maybe administrational mistake because it belonged to the -- maybe they didn't learn how to put it in nylon box, they put it three or four. It is not the big quantity. But we are trying to find every detail, every small thing. We are checking everything. That's why the result is a little bit delayed because we have to inform the people and the result should be very clear and very perfect.
MR. MACINNES: Thank you. Our next question?
QUESTION: Just a small detail. How many people do you have counting the votes?
DR. AYAR: Well, now the people they are -- they work in the tally center is 240, I think. They are working in shifts, day and night, to finish everything as soon as possible. And there are other people. We have plenty people now where the number I can't tell you how many people they are working, even in IECI. There are maybe 500, 600.
MR. MACINNES: Thank you. Next question?
(No response.)
MR. MACINNES: All right. We know how busy you are, Dr. Farid. We finished our questioning from this side. Thank you very, very much for participating today and elaborating on where the electoral process is and on the details of the counting. We appreciate it. We wish you the best and look forward to hearing when you announce the results.
DR. AYAR: Thank you very much. Thank you.
